False Alarm
by Loopstagirl
Summary: What's worse, when there is a deadly rescue to carry out, or when there is not? Virgil's not sure.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing, all rights belong to their respective owners.**

**After such a gorgeous birthday present from Angel-Sue, it was only fair I repaid the favour for her birthday! Although she beats me at getting it out on time, sorry this is late, hun!**

Virgil groaned, sticking his head under the pillows for a brief second as he tried to pretend that he was imagining the klaxon going off. That just wasn't fair, not when he was warm and comfortable and had been having a really nice dream. It took all of about two seconds and the sound of Scott's thundering feet before he realised that it was no dream, and he would have to get out of bed.

Letting out a long suffering moan, inwardly cursing the world for having disasters when he wanted to be able to sleep in until a reasonable time, Virgil pulled himself up right, yawning as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His hair was sticking up in all sorts of crazy angles, not helped by the way he proceeded to drag a hand through it, yawning once again as he did so. Finally standing up – mildly wondering if it was going to help wake him up or simply make him regret being out of bed even more – Virgil winced as the cold floor met his bare toes. The weather had been unseasonably warm over the last few weeks, even with living on a tropical island. It had just led to Virgil sleeping in what was more commonly referred to as "Gordon-style". A lose pair of shorts, and nothing else. He even had his balcony doors open ever so slightly in order to tempt in a non-existent breeze. It hadn't worked for cooling his room down, but had somehow made the floor cold.

But despite his glance out of the window showed that it was going to be another beautiful day, Virgil knew the chances were that he wasn't going to be around to enjoy it. Damn rescues and their bad timing. Considering how many thoughts had flickered through his sleep-filled mind, Virgil made his way slowly down the stairs, trying and failing to stifle more yawns, and arrived at the lounge at the same time as his younger brothers. Alan looked like he felt, his face pale and his eyes bloodshot, although he had gone as far as putting a shirt on. Gordon looked the same way Gordon always did – even looking like he had been forced to pause long enough to even put a pair of shorts on, although that was something Virgil was adamantly _not _thinking about. Virgil was certain that his water loving brother never ever ran out of energy. Whether it was dawn or midnight, Gordon was incapable of walking. He bounced.

The same was true now. In fact, it was taking every ounce of Virgil's self control not to stamp on his brother's jiggling foot as the pair of them slid onto the sofa. Alan was standing off to one side, Scott and Jeff in front of their father's desk as they addressed Virgil's space bound brother. If he was awake, Virgil might have smirked at John's pyjama choice, knowing that Five didn't exactly get the same heat-wave that the island was experiencing at the moment. But instead, he just tossed a hand casually in John's direction that might have been an action that somehow resembled a wave before leaning his head back on the top of the sofa, yawning again. He could just about hear the morning chorus of birds beginning to greet the new day, and somehow, the knowledge did nothing to cheer him up.

"...so they've put in a call for help, withdrawn in and then put it another one?" Scott was in the process of saying as Virgil was attempting to work out how his oldest brother was capable of looking that alert. Especially when he was dressed the same way as Virgil, just in a pair of shorts with hair sticking up at all angles. But whereas Virgil had to drag himself out of bed, Scott looked like he had sprung up, his eyes alert and gleaming. He was as bad as Gordon when it came to almost bouncing, letting the balls of his feet take his weight as he practically rocked, clearly wanting to get out to the rescue zone as fast as possible.

"Yeah. I don't know, Dad, I'm not sure whether they need our help or not." Virgil barely heard John's words. He was too busy watching Scott bounce in front of him, and Gordon's leg jiggling beside him. Scott he could excuse, the man had so much adrenaline Virgil seriously thought he would hit Thunderbird Five if he was to jump in the air. Gordon, however, was just being plain annoying and probably didn't even realise that he was jiggling. Even as their father made to respond to John, Virgil slammed his foot down on Gordon's, causing his younger brother to yelp in indignation and a little surprise. If it had been later on in the day, Virgil might have even said pain, but he knew his 5AM strength was nothing like his 5PM strength.

"Virg." Scott had a warning note in his voice even as their father and brother carried on discussing the potential rescue, apparently either not noticing or – as Virgil most likely suspected – ignoring his attempts to stop Gordon from moving.

"He's too alive." Virgil whined, knowing there was a pout on his face as he said it. Alan smirked, Gordon grinned and Scott rolled his eyes, leaning over to ruffle his little brother's hair. Virgil's pout only deepened as he tried to smooth the brown locks down again. It was just a matter of principle; it wasn't as if his hair had been under any sort of control in the first place. Judging by the amused look Gordon was now giving him, he too had been aware of that fact.

"Someone got out of bed the wrong side this morning." Alan commented lightly, and Virgil simply scowled further.

"This is not morning, you jerk. This is some bizarre time of the day that shouldn't even exist unless you are weird like John-,"

"Thanks."

"...or just spooky like Scott."

"Charmed."

"Okay, Virgil, I think you have made your thoughts perfectly clear." Jeff's voice finally cut through their conversation. Virgil should have known that he would be listening; the fact that John had responded and not simply ignored him had been proof enough that they clearly finished discussion the rescue and had come to a decision, all whilst Virgil was contemplating whether he could change the clocks so that this hour technically didn't exist. He had no doubts John probably could; his brother was somewhat talented when it came to things like that. One glance at Scott's face had Virgil scowling again. He was certain that Scott hadn't been listening to that latter part either, yet he seemed to know what decision had been made if the looks he was exchanging with Gordon was anything to go by.

"So?" Virgil blinked at his father.

"So what?" The artist was none the wiser about what the man was trying to tell him, even if Jeff's wriggling eyebrows were implying that he should know the answer to the question. Of course, it would be _slightly_ more helpful if Virgil even knew what the question was, but his mind was stuck on one-track, namely trying to work out why it was even being made to think at this unreasonable hour in the first place.

"The rescue. What do you think?"

"I think they are idiots who should know better than to almost drive off a cliff." _See, _he thought to his own brain, _you had been listening really, I knew it._ "Especially when that then involves me having to get out of my nice warm bed to go and save their sorry asses."

"So you'll be pleased to know that you can go back to bed then?" Jeff responded, sharing a grin with both Scott and John. Virgil tilted his head to one side, wondering how that was even possible considering one was in front of him and one over to the side and almost out of eye line. But then his brain caught up with what his father had just said, and his mouth fell open in shock.

"What?"

"John managed to get through to the local emergency services. They reckon that they can pull the car back themselves, or at least stabilise it if they do need us."

"So they don't..."

"No, Virg. They don't need us."

"Those...those...!" Virgil jumped to his feet, gesturing wildly with his arms as he tried to find a word that expressed just how bad those people were, but tactfully ignoring the suggestions coming from Gordon and Alan at the same time. Especially considering the glare that Scott was giving them made Alan shut his mouth with a snap and Gordon just smirk. Without another word, Virgil strode across the room to the secret entrance to his slide.

"Virgil, where are you going?"

"They got me out of bed." Virgil spluttered, enraged.

"And now you can go back to it." Scott said softly, moving towards his brother with his hands held out in what Virgil supposed was supposed to be a placating manner, but it was doing very little to calm Virgil down.

"No. They got me up, I'm going to go and save their friggin' asses. No one gets me up and then decides that it is a false alarm, no one!"

"Okay, Virg, just...take a deep breath, man." Scott was somehow managing to control himself regardless of the fact that John had turned away to hide his laughter. His shoulders were still shaking though, and Gordon's eyes were dancing with mirth.

"You take a deep breath; I've got a rescue to run!" Virgil didn't notice his father's finger slide over a button on his desk, jamming Virgil's portrait shut and practically causing the young man simply to walk straight into it rather than being whisked into the secret part of the island. Luckily, Scott saw it coming and his hand closing around Virgil's arm, stopping his brother from hitting it. Knowing Virgil, he would only moan about the ruined artwork later.

"Okay, boys, you can go back to bed." Jeff announced, picking up his coffee cup, saying goodbye to John and disappearing out of the room. Alan, who didn't look like he had ever woken up properly in the first place, quickly disappeared after him, but Gordon exchanged looks with Scott.

"Virg, bed?" Scott asked tentatively, seeming to know that his brother was less than happy about being up at this time of day. If he was honest, it was a time he – and Gordon, surprisingly – saw almost regularly. Virgil only knew it existed thanks to John never going to bed when they were younger.

"Not until I've told them what I think of them going for a drive at this time in the morning."

"Dude, it's the other side of the world. It's a normal time for them..."

"Normal, my ass. They did this on purpose." Gordon had come to join Scott by Virgil now, and one look shared between them was all it took. They each grabbed an arm and rested them over their own shoulders, steering Virgil away from his portrait. He almost didn't seem to notice, instead continuing to rant about how they planned it all just to make him get up. Scott made to turn towards the stairs, but Gordon caught his eye and jerked his head in the opposite direction. Scott hesitated, biting his lip slightly, but when Virgil declared they must be part of the Mafia who simply had it in for him, he rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Oi!" Despite mumbling to himself through yawns, Virgil was awake enough to notice that he was being pulled outside. He dug his heels in, trying to stop his brothers. But he was going against the two military men of the family, and they simply tightened their grip, not giving him much of a chance.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back to bed, Virg?" Gordon asked in a suspiciously light hearted voice as Scott ducked out from under Virgil's other arm. He might have agreed to get his brother out here, but no way was he suicidal. This bit Gordon would just have to do on his own.

Virgil made to protest, muttering something again about damn victims being pains in his ass, but then he saw where they were. Not to mention the fact that Scott was clearly trying to play it safe.

"Changed my mind. I'm going back to bed. Now. As in, right this minute now. As in, you really need to let go of me now..." Gordon let go of his arm, but moved behind Virgil, giving him a hard shove in the shoulder blades. That was all it took for him to go flying forward, but through some wildly wind milling arms, he managed to regain his balance.

Even the thought of stepping backwards would have him in the pool.

Gordon looked vaguely disappointed, but grinned at his brother, rolling his eyes as he did so. He hadn't seen Virgil like this since he was a teenager and Alan had wanted him to come to a game with him. The house had been in chaos for days afterwards. But this beat even that memorable occasion and Gordon knew that he would have to store it away for blackmail for a later date.

"Go back to bed, Virg." He muttered, turning away. As he did so, a loud noise filtered up through the forest. Used to being up at this time of day, Gordon not only knew that it was a bird greeting the day, he could name the species, the colouring and where it could be found in the forest. Virgil, however, was not privy to such information. Unfortunately, the noise also made him jump, and Gordon turned back just in time to see Virgil disappearing into the water with an almighty splash and a yelp that was decidedly un-masculine.

Gordon's face lit up, especially considering he could hear Scott snorting with amusement behind him even as Virgil resurfaced once again. Spluttering angrily, but unable to blame this one on his brother, Virgil climbed out from the pool, his feet slipping on the floor slightly.

"If you wanted a shower, all you had to do was say... "Gordon began innocently, but his words weren't needed. Virgil simply stood there and glared. But luck truly wasn't on the artistic Tracy's side. He may have been wearing shorts to sleep in, but there was no way they were designed to cope with a dip in the pool. As he stood there, the water began to weigh them down. Seeing what was happening, Gordon's eyes widened, and he even had the decency to open his mouth in order to warn Virgil.

But he was too late. The weight of the water was simply too much, and as Virgil took a small step forward, they dropped, spooling around his ankles and resting in a puddle of water. There was an almost hush as Gordon heard Scott take in a sharp breath.

"Virg?" There could be no denying how hard the oldest brother was struggling not to burst out laughing, but Virgil simply closed his eyes. With a deliberate slowness, he stepped out from the shorts and took a step towards them.

"I...am going back to bed." He said, forced calmness in his voice as he moved passed his brothers with his head held high. Neither of them said a word, but simply stood aside to let him through.

It was only when the lounge door had swung shut behind him that Scott suddenly gasped. There was someone else on the island, someone who often got up with the klaxon, no matter what time of day it was, in order to make sure her boys were safe.

"Hang on, isn't..."

"VIRGIL TRACY!"

"...Grandma home?" He finished feebly, both him and Gordon sharing looks.

"Fancy a run?" Gordon muttered, already beginning to back away. There was no way he was going into the house, not now. There came another shriek from inside, followed by heavy running footsteps, and Scott quickly nodded his agreement.

By the time they got back to the house an hour later, Virgil had made it back to the safety of his bed.

**Revenge is sweet is all I'm saying to that! ;) Happy belated birthday, hun!**


End file.
